US District Judge William Hoeveler temporarily blocked the French extradition of former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega Wednesday to give Noriega's lawyers time to argue that his rights will not be fully protected in France. Defense lawyers will have until 9 AM local time Thursday to present their case for why the former dictator should …

An Australian government solicitor Wednesday filed an appeal contesting last month's Federal Court of Australia decision to reinstate the work visa of Dr. Mohammad Haneef, who was detained by Australian authorities in July in connection with July's attempted UK car bomb terror attacks. Australian Immigration and Citizenship Minister Kevin …

An anchoring and fastening product manufacturer pleaded not guilty Wednesday to criminal charges stemming from the July 10, 2006 ceiling panel collapse in Boston's $15 billion Big Dig tunnel project that killed one person. Power Fasteners was indicted last month on one count of involuntary manslaughter based on …

Israel's justice minister has dropped language from a proposed amendment to the nation's inheritance law that would define common law marriage to be between a man and a woman, according to a statement made to the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) Tuesday. Daniel Friedmann informed the ACRI that he no longer plans to …

Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel Wednesday issued an advisory opinion rejecting certification of a voter-backed ballot proposition that would ban adoptions by unmarried couples. The measure, submitted by the Family Council of Arkansas, would prevent unmarried couples, regardless of their sexual orientation, from adopting children or acting as foster parents. McDaniel cited inconsistencies …

The Canadian Army Tuesday announced that independent investigators have found no evidence to support allegations that the army "may have aided or abetted the torture of detainees" by transferring them from Canadian to Afghan custody. Amnesty International Canada and the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association brought complaints against the …

The Supreme Court of Pakistan Wednesday heard the first set of arguments in a legal challenge to the rule of Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf. The lawsuit challenges the fact that Musharraf is both the country's president and army chief, and alleges that any bid for re-election by Musharraf would be unconstitutional. Reuters has more.On Monday, …

On a visit to Sydney, Australia to attend the 2007 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, US President George W. Bush said Wednesday that it was "inexcusable" for the recently-concluded constitutional convention in Myanmar to have excluded opposition party National League for Democracy. US State Department spokesman Tom Casey said earlier that the constitutional talks …

A Bulgarian special panel investigating the country's communist-era police records said Tuesday that current Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov and 19 other lawmakers collaborated with the country's communist-era secret service. The panel, created under legislation declassifying communist-era files, has published a list of 138 people who collaborated with the secret service. Parvanov insists that …

The Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund and other civil rights groups filed a lawsuit in federal court Tuesday against the state of Arizona claiming that the Legal Arizona Workers Act is unconstitutional and could lead to discrimination against minorities, especially Latinos. The lawsuit, filed on behalf …

UK Lord Justice Stephen Sedley said Wednesday that all UK citizens and visitors should have their DNA included in the national DNA database because the current repository is insufficient. Sedley said that the UK DNA database, the world's largest at 4 million samples, has a disproportionate amount of samples from ethnic minorities …

Iranian-American journalist Parnaz Azima has been granted permission to leave Iran [RFE/RL report] after months of being held in the country due to security-related charges against her, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) said Tuesday. Azima, employed by a Persian service of RFE/RL, originally traveled to Iran in January to visit her sick mother, and upon arrival Iranian …

EU Justice, Freedom, and Security Commissioner Franco Frattini said Wednesday that the European Union will move forward with plans to establish an EU-wide airline passenger data recording system despite privacy concerns because the threat posed by terror attacks remains high. Frattini's comments came on the same day that German authorities announced the arrests of three suspected terrorists …